Intel® RAID Controller RS2WG160 Hardware User’s Guide 1
1 Overview
The Intel
®
RAID Controller RS2WG160 is a high port-count, high-performance
intelligent PCI Express* 2.0 compliant SAS/SATA RAID controller that offers reliability,
high performance, and fault-tolerant disk subsystem management. This is a RAID
solution that meets the internal storage needs of workgroup, department, or enterprise
systems to use with cost-effective SATA or high performance SAS media.
As a second generation PCI Express* storage controller, the Intel
®
RAID Controller
RS2WG160 addresses the growing demand for increased data throughput and scalability
requirements across entry level, midrange, and enterprise server platforms.
The controller controls 16 internal SAS/SATA ports through four SFF-8087 Mini SAS x4
internal connectors. For more information about the use of expanders, see the ANSI SAS
Standard, version 2.0 specification.
SATA and SAS are serial, point-to-point, device interfaces that use simplified cabling,
smaller connectors, lower pin counts, and lower power requirements than parallel SCSI.
The optional Intel
®
RAID Smart Battery AXXRSBBU7 provides cached data protection
for the RAID controller, even during system failures.
Benefits of SAS and SATA
SAS is a serial, enterprise-level device interface that leverages the proven SCSI protocol
set. SAS is a convergence of the advantages of SATA, SCSI, and FC, and is the future
mainstay of the enterprise and high-end workstation storage markets. SAS offers a higher
bandwidth per pin than parallel SCSI and improves signal and data integrity.
The SAS interface uses the proven SCSI command set to ensure reliable data transfers,
while providing the connectivity and flexibility of point-to-point serial data transfers. The
serial transmission of SCSI commands eliminates clock skew challenges. The SAS
interface provides improved performance, simplified cabling, smaller connectors, lower
pin count, and lower power requirements than parallel SCSI.
SAS controllers leverage a common electrical and physical connection interface that is
compatible with Serial ATA technology. The SAS and SATA protocols use a thin, 7-wire
connector instead of the 68-wire SCSI cable or 40-wire ATA cable. The SAS/SATA
connector and cable are easier to manipulate, connect to smaller devices, and do not
inhibit airflow. The point-to-point SATA architecture eliminates difficulties created by the
legacy ATA master-slave architecture, while maintaining compatibility with existing ATA
firmware.
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